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So, I've extracted the engine and dropped it off at SRS in Sutton who have pressure tested the block and found it to be fit and well. The crank is standard size and reusable as are the heads which have also been tested. Considering the state of the sump contents and the rusted camshaft and pitted rockers I've got off lightly so far. They are going to price up a full chemical clean and cost for the bits.

Whilst it is away I've been messing about with the insulation pad on the bulkhead. The foam had become exposed and where the engine had been run without an offside heat shield the bottom of it was a bit tired. I tried finding a method of sealing the foam to provide a new skin including raiding the medicine chest for Opsite which is supposed to provide a skin. Nothing worked so I contacted Plastidip who were very helpful and patch tested a couple of products on it, settling on ColorBond in Mercedes Anthracite.
After about five coats it looked a lot better and more stable and with the addition of some new heat shield fabric from Textile Technologies it looks quite presentable.
As the heat shield is stuck to the foam I might add some additional mechanical fixing before it goes back in.

I'd add some pics but In Imgur I can't see a direct link button. There is a copy link but that doesn't show up in Preview after pasting the link into the add image button link. I know Gilbert has told me how to do this twice. The joys of old age.

Front of chassis gradually being cleaned and painted.

Trying to work out a method of getting the gearbox and transfer box out bit by bit. The bell housing is off but the rest looks pretty heavy and I need to find a balance point if it all comes out as one.

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In Imgur click on the picture then click on the Copy button on the RHS of the screen. However, this doesn't as you might think, copy the link, it just highlights it. So right click on the highlighted link, click the image button on here, right click in that and paste the link into the box.

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So looking at that there's a big plate where the pedal box goes and the steering column. I wonder if you could fit an LHD steering column and box and LHD pedal box to make a fully dual-control P38, like how aircraft have two yokes...? :-D

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Sorry not to respond earlier I've been lying under the thing wrestling with trolley jacks, bits of wood, ratchet straps and curses for a while.

I'm in enough trouble without adding dual control!

The transfer case is now out: what a palaver. Apart from a lot of oil on the casing which seems to have blown back from the gearbox it looks OK. The oil was light brown rather than the bright pink of the gearbox oil. The seals look OK. Is there anything I should replace "while it's out" just in case?

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RAVE says to always change the gearbox output shaft seal if you take the transfer case off. I swapped my TC in an effort to track down the source of a driveline vibration only to find that not only did it not cure the vibration but the one I put in had a worn chain that would skip. So I put my original one back in. On neither occasion did I follow the instructions to change the gearbox output shaft oil seal so it had to come out again to do just that as it was peeing out all over the place.

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After struggling for hours to get it out and the replacement back in again using the trolley jack and blocks of wood method, I figured if I was going to do it again I'd make life a bit easier for myself. I made up a bracket that I could bolt to the bottom of the T case. I used a large socket welded to it that was a snug fit into the hole where the trollet jack pad would normally fit so it held the T case level and at just the right angle to slot it back in. I also cut the heads off some Toyota cylnder head bolts which had the correct thread so I could put those into a couple of the mounting holes and slide it in on them. That way it went in straight so less chance of damaging the new oil seal when putting it back. Managed to get it out and back in again on my own rather than having to rope my son-in-law in (a useful source of brute force and ignorance) to help get it in.